Divine Congress Kadlaikai (peanuts) : ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಕಡಲೆಕಾಯಿ

Thanks for the recipe by our own realtor Girish Bangalore 

Ingredients:

1. Cups dry roasted split peanuts
2. Red chilli powder - 1 Tsp
3. Salt - 1 Tsp
4. Turmeric - 1 Tsp
5. Pepper - 1/2 Tsp
6. Asafoetida (hing) - 2tbsp
7. Curry Leaves - 20
8. Sugar - tbsp

Procedure: 

Step 1: Prepare the peanuts

Use 2 Cups dry roasted split peanuts (regular grocery stores carry it including Safeway). This will save you tons of time if you have to roast and split the peanuts yourself.

Step 2: Prepare the Masala

Add the Red chilli, Pepper, Turmeric, Salt into a bowl and mix well

Step 3: Make the Congress Kallekaayi

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a kadai - do not heat the oil too much as it will burn your masala.
2. Add lots of hing (at least 2 tsp) and switch off the stove.
3. Add the Masala mixture and fry for a few seconds.
4. Add 20 curry leaves and mix
5. Now add the roasted peanuts and mix thoroughly. Switch the stove on for two minutes.
6. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and mix again.
7. Switch off the stove and you have to wait until the peanuts cool down completely before you store it in an airtight container.

Tips:

• I use 1.5 tsp of Red Chilli powder but most people might find that spicy. Hence I have suggested 1 tsp in my recipe. I recommend making it with 1 tsp the first time and then adjusting the amount of red chilli powder the next time to your taste.
  
• The secret to a bakery-standard congress peanuts lies in just one ingredient - The hing (Asafoetida). The quality of the hing you use makes all the difference to this recipe. Unfortunately, I have seen only LG brand Hing in the US. Using this brand will only give you okay-tasting congress. If you really want bakery standard, use SSP brand special hing from India. It is super expensive though. One small 10 gm box is Rs. 250. But it just changes the quality of your congress peanuts like you won't believe it!! If you are using SSP brand, then 1 tsp should be sufficient. Adjust according to your taste.

Nammoora Masala Puri

Thank you Mamatha S. for the awesome recipe ..... was nostalgic to taste the best of the chaat from our childhood days.

The measurements are for 1 cup peas. Depending on the amount of peas you use , can increase or decrease the measurements of other ingredientsIngredients :

1. One cup green or White Peas Boiled firmly (make sure you don’t overcook it , also do not use frozen peas.)
2. Green Chillies to taste
3. 3-4tbsp cilantro leave (finely chopped)
4. 1 tsp Jeera
5. 7-8 Black pepper corns
6. Tbsp coriander seeds
7. 3-4 cloves
8. 1” cinnamon stick

Preparation:

Dry roast all the dry ingredients and powder the same. To it add cilantro leave , green chillies, and 3-4 tsp of cooked peas( u can add more if you need thick consistency of masala) and grind all together.Pour the paste into griddle along with water  boil to for few minutes. Add 1-2 tsp of lemon juice and pinch of sugar and  salt as per taste . Mix boiled peas and bring it to boil.

Serving:

Crush the desired amount of Puris, top with  pipping hot masala garnished with Grated carrot , finely chopped onions, tomatoes and if required thin Nylon sev.

Fried Modak or Talniche Modak

Here is the recipe for my favorite sweet: Modak.

This is the most common sweet made in Maharashtra as part of Ganapati celebrations. My favorite god being Ganapati, I love his sweets too;) I wanted to make this on the first day of His arrival during the festival but this time we had to skip it due to some family reasons. So I made it on Anant chaturthi i.e. today.

Ingredients
Outside dough:
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 tbsps rava
1 tbsp ghee
A pinch of salt

Filling:
1 cup grated coconut( I used fresh one)
1 cup jaggery(I grated it)
1 tbsp poppy seeds(roasted)
1 tbsp cashewnuts(make small pieces)
1 tsp elaichi powder (i used about 6 cardamoms )

First prepare the dough by taking the flour, 1 tbsp ghee, rava and water. Make a medium consistency dough with it, cover it with a wet kitchen paper towel and keep it aside for atleast 15 mts.

Next, prepare the filling. On a medium flame, add about 1 tsp ghee and saute coconut lightly for about 1 min. Then, add the grated jaggery till just about it starts to melt. Switch off the gas and add the elaichi powder, cashews, poppy seeds and mix well and let it cool down. Dont heat too much initially else when it cools down, it will harden.

Finally, make small round pieces using the dough, I used a round cutter to make equal pieces to get equal sized modaks. Add the filling in each after pinching around the round pieces and close the individual modaks. Deep fry these on medium flame till golden brown so that they cook evenly.
This recipe made 26 modaks. I still have some remaining dough but the filling got over.

I kept 21 modaks for naivedya.

Enjoy!!!

Spicy Pepper Chicken ... (almost) the way mommy makes it

Pepper chicken was one think that we relished back home; mommys touch, desi spices and the "naati" koLi sure did make a lot of difference; this recipe that I found on the net sure comes pretty close to it

• Heat oil(ghee if you can digest it :)) under medium heat in a frying pan.
• Add crushed garlic cloves(6 to 10) stir for a couple of minutes
• Add onion(2 nos), green chillies (4 to 6 vertically sliced) and curry leaves to the mixture and stir for a couple more minutes
• Add chicken(1.5 lbs) and mix well.
• Lower the heat and cover the pan and let the chicken to cook for about 10 minutes.
• Add tumeric, salt to taste and mix well.
• Cook it covered for 5 more minutes
• Add soya sauce(4 to 5 table spoons) and cook it open on high flame for a few more minutes until the liquid in the pan evaporates.
• Add pepper powder(2 spoons), lemon juice(2 spoons) and mix well.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Quick and Tasty Chicken Reshmi Kabab

This is a quick recipe of a chicken reshmi kabab that you can prepare within half an hour and seldom go wrong. This serves as a mouthwatering spicy appetizer. It is tested on a lot of BayKons and gained appreciation from everybody who has tasted it.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken: 1 pound (Preferably boneless chicken breast)
2. Garlic: 6-8 pods
3. Green Chillies: 8-10 (Preferably thai chillies)
4. Heavy Whipping Cream: Quarter pint
5. Grated/Powdered Cheese (Preferably powdered Parmesan): 3 tablespoons
6. Salt to taste

Marination/Cooking Process:

1. Make a coarse Garlic and Green chillies. (do not make too smooth a paste; you can use bullet grinder for this purpose or chop them fine)
2. Cut chicken into small pieces(half inch by half inch would be good) and mix it well in a large bowl with the paste made in step 1 and add salt to taste and keep it aside.
3. Put the whipping cream in a small bowl and add the powdered/grated cheese and slowly mix it until the cheese dissolves. (mix slowly to avoid curdling of the cream)
4. Add the above cream+cheese mixture to the marinated chicken in the large bowl and mix well and keep aside for 15-20 min
5. Place the marinated chicken on the oven tray (separation of 0.5 to 1 cm is good)
6. Pre-heat the conventional oven to 420 deg. and put the tray in the oven
7. Watch the chicken as it cooks and as you see it become slightly brown, turn it over and continue baking until the other side is light brown.

The kabab is ready to the consumed .... eat it hot for better taste. Also, do not overcook; overcooking make the chicken dry and am sure everybody by now knows that things taste better when juicy ;)

For the people sensitive to fat, you can skip cream and cheese; the kabab will not turn out soft; but it would sure be tasty.

Mouthwatering Chicken Tangdi (Tandoori Chicken)

Spent a decent amount of money on a BBQ hence thought making good use of it ... and thanks to Shashi who had done quite a bit of experiments before discovering an almost perfect recipe for tandoori chicken better than ANY available commercially in restaurants in the San Francisco bay area and sharing with the BayKon folks, here is a version of the recipe that has been tested on quite a lot of carnivores in the Bay Area (and one in Seattle) .... if it turns out good, do invite me the next time you make it. If it does not, try until you master the art and then invite me :)

Ingredients:

1. Chicken (Preferably the leg pieces with thighs) ... 2 pieces per person is good enough ... 3 pieces and the person might skip lunch/dinner. (Boneless breast pieces cut into strips will also work for those who do not like bones)
2. Yogurt (aka curd) .... forget about the fat content when it comes to tasty tandoori ... just go for regular yogurt.
3. Red chilly powder
4. Ginger-garlic paster
5. Butter
6. BBQ Masala
7. Salt
8. Lemon

Preparation:

1. Place the chicken in a vessel good enough to mix the chicken thoroughly with hand.
2. Cut a few slits in the chicken pieces so that the marinade(masala) reaches deep.
3. Add a couple of spoons(the more you add the spicier it would get) of red chilli powder, salt and ginger-garlic paste each.
4. Mix the contents thoroughly and set aside.
5. Take some yogurt in a bowl (not too much) and gently beat it.
6. Add the BBQ masala and mix it well to make a thick paste.
7. Add a couple of spoons of lemon juice and butter (microwave butter for 10-15 secs so that it becomes liquid)
8. Mix the contents in the bowl well for even consistency.
9. Pour the marinade to the vessel with chicken.
10. Mix the chicken well with the marinade so that the marinade reaches every nook and corner of the chicken.

People recommend marinating for a few hours ..... but I have seen that BBQing it after 10-15 min of marination too tastes pretty good.

..... Post would be updated shortly .... looking forward to put together some photographs and videos if time permits :)

Moong Dal Ladoo

1 cup moong dal
1/2 cup sugar
Dry coconut - Based on taste, I used 1/4 cup or less
Dry fruits -cashews, almonds, pistachios
Elaichi - 2
Ghee - 5-10 tbsps

Roast whole green mung dal on pan on medium flame for 10 mts. No oil or ghee required for this.
Next grind this in mixer and also add the elaichi in the same.
Ground it till fine or as much as you want your ladoo to taste :)

Next take 2 tbps ghee in pan, add coconut, dry fruits and lightly saute.
Remove from flame and add to the grounded mung mixture.

Powder sugar in mixer and also add this to the above mixture.
Add fresh ghee to the mixture as much as required to make round undos or ladoos..!